APPLICANT'S DESCRIPTION This is an application for support for the Gordon Research Conference on "Cellular and Molecular Concepts in Radiation Oncology" to be held in Ventura, CA on January 28-February 2, 2001. The funds requested will be used entirely for the support of travel and registration fees for invited speakers who represent younger faculty members, as well as partial support for young investigators presenting posters at the meeting. There continues to be extraordinary rapid progress in our understanding of the factors governing the response of cells to ionizing radiation. The goal of this Conference is to examine and discuss recent data concerning the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which radiation damages cells. This will be achieved through presentations by invited speakers selected from a range of experts who are leaders in their research areas, by proffered poster presentations, and by plenary discussion sessions involving all attendees at the meeting. A particular objective of the Conference is to bring together young investigators with more senior scientists in an informal setting that will facilitate wide-ranging interactions and encourage a free exchange of ideas. Approximately 100 to 130 participants are expected to attend the meeting, chosen from universities, research institutes and governmental and industrial research laboratories. The scientific sessions will define areas in which exciting new information is emerging. These sessions include: 1) recombinational processes in radiation response; 2) damage recognition pathways; 3) oxidative stress; 4) damage response pathways; 5) radiation- induced genomic instability; 6) mechanisms of mammalian cell death; 7) new radiation models; 8) translational models; and 9) bystander effects. Four poster sessions will also be featured for all conference participants to share details of their latest research in areas appropriate to the Conference. Some of these posters, especially those presented by young investigators, will be selected for short platform presentations. An overriding goal of the Conference is that the cross-fertilization between junior and senior scientists in the various areas represented will generate new ideas and spawn productive collaborations.